Floating point math is used in computer system applications for calculating a large range of numbers quickly. Generally, floating point math refers to a method for storing and calculating numbers in which the decimal points do not line up as in fixed point numbers. The significant digits are stored as a unit called the “mantissa,” and the location of the radix point (e.g., decimal point in base-10) is stored in a separate unit called the “exponent.” Floating point operations can be implemented in hardware (e.g., a floating point unit of a microprocessor), or they can be done in software. In large systems, they can also be performed in a separate floating point processor that is connected to the main processor via a bus. IEEE Standard 754 floating point (also known as IEC 559, IEEE 854 or IEC 60559) is the most common representation for real numbers on computers, including x86 based PC's, Macintoshes, and most Unix platforms. With respect to x86 and/or x87 based computer systems, the implementation of IEEE 754 floating point math is inefficient. This is problematic since many different types of computer system applications require high-performance floating point calculations. What is required is an efficient implementation of IEEE 754 floating point math on x86 based computer systems.